Death of a Salesman-Final

This is a final post discussing the themes present in Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman. This play explored many themes. Two major themes are denial and regret. Two minor themes are the American Dream and reputation.
Denial is the first major theme of this book. In times of struggle, denial is prevalent because reality is more difficult to accept. Willy's character exhibits the most self-denial during this play and it is one of the causes of his insanity. His hallucinations allowed him to believe that he was in a more pleasant situation than where he actually was. He still believed that even though his sons were nearing middle-aged and had found no success in live, they were still stars. He deluded himself into believing that he was an exceptional salesman when he was simply mediocre. Linda did not exhibit denial but she perpetuated her husband's by not setting him straight. Happy, always acting the part of his father's son, convinced himself into believing that he was an assistant buyer when he was really an assistant to an assistant. The entire family was affected and broken due to this denial. It is possible that in an easier era to live in, Willy wouldn't have had to deal with these hallucinations or the denial he lived with. However, since the Great Depression was a time of struggle, his life was too hard for him to deal with when he let himself hear the truth.
Nostalgia and a sense of hopelessness about the present often lead to regret and living in the past, leading to inability to move forward. Linda regrets that no matter what she does, she cannot reconcile her sons to her husband. She single-mindedly strives for family unity and regrets how her life has changed and that leaves her unable to seek help for her husband. Biff regrets not continuing his football career so even into adulthood, he is unable to allow himself to follow his dreams. Happy is paralyzed in the past, still acting like a teenager and trying to please his father because he regrets that he was never enough for Willy. Willy constantly regrets not going off with Ben to make his fortune, leaving him unable to do a good job as a salesman. He regrets his affair and that Biff found out about it, stripping him of his self respect. The longing for the past present in the Loman family led to regret that paralyzed the family.
The American Dream, a concept so important to this nation's pride, nearly collapsed during the Great Depression. Many people lost sight of their dreams and hope for the future because the crippling economic issues did not allow for anyone to strike out on their own. Ben embodied the American Dream to Willy because he was brave enough to try something new and he succeeded. Willy went the safe route and had confidence in his skills. He always maintained hope for his sons because of the American Dream, even though it was unrealistic that they would suddenly be successful at 34 and 32. Linda is the only one in the family who fully gave up on the American Dream. She was content to mend her stockings and live paycheck to paycheck as long as her family was happy. Though she had given up on that source of hope, she was also the happiest, most fulfilled family member because she didn't have a grand illusion about someone sweeping in to save her. The American Dream and the lack thereof during the Great Depression left a mark on this story.
Another lesson that this play has to teach is that while reputation is important, popularity does not triumph over hard work. Willy constantly told his sons that Bernard and Charley were smart but not well-liked, assuming that since his sons were handsome and popular, they would succeed over Bernard. When they became adults, Bernard was a successful lawyer and the Loman brothers had nothing. Despite Willy's superiority, Charley continually lent them money. Willy maintained his stubborn attitude that reputation was everything. He refused to admit that hard work and studying were a more useful path and in the end, that led to his downfall.

Death of a Salesman-Part 4

This blog post covers the fourth and final section (approximately from page 80 to page 112) of Arthur Miller's play Death of a Salesman. In this section, the Girl's name is revealed to be Miss Forsythe. One final, small character is introduced: Letta (Miss Forsythe's call girl friend).
At the beginning of this section, Willy enters the bar. Biff, Willy, and Happy all continue in their usual patterns. Willy and Happy are unwilling to see the truth and Biff is unwilling to lie to himself or either of them. This leads to a fight in which Willy tells his sons that he was fired and Biff yells at his father and lets him know that the loan fell through. Simultaneously, Willy experiences another hallucination in which Bernard brings the news that Biff failed math and won't be graduating. It is apparent that Willy is being pushed over the edge because he is living one of the worst moments of his life while re-living another. Because of the stress of the situation, Biff does deny the truth once. When his father begins to mutter to himself and hallucinate, Biff lies and says that he may still get the loan just to get his father quiet. However, moments later he yells at Willy again. This change in character shows that Biff's resolve is crumbling as his father's sanity does the same.
Willy goes to the restroom and relives the moment when Biff discovered that his father was having an affair, shortly after failing math. Biff is crushed by his father's infidelity and confronts him about his lies. This incident is the reason that Biff stopped trying to please his father and decided not to make up the math credit and go to college. He felt so betrayed by his father that he had no desire to make his father or himself happy.
While Willy is in the restroom, his sons leave with the girls. When Willy discovers that he has been abandoned, he goes out to buy seeds. The seeds, to Willy and to readers, seem to symbolize the desire to start life over and have a new beginning.  When Biff and Happy arrive at home, Linda is angry and Willy is out planting the seeds. Linda is a static character and maintains her desire to defend Willy and protect him from the world. She recognizes that he may not be the greatest man in the world but holds that he has worked hard for them and deserves respect. Being abandoned in the bar by his sons seems to have been the last straw for Willy. He has a hallucination in which Ben suggests that if Willy died, his family would gain $20,000 of insurance money. Throughout all their fighting, Willy still favors Biff and sees a bright future for him with that money. When Biff tells Willy his plan to leave, it is clear that he doesn't want to hurt his father but that he doesn't want to continue lying to himself. Willy, in his last stroke of insanity, decides to go for the "$20,000 proposition" and speeds off in his car to his death.
Willy, throughout the book, went through a downward spiral of insanity and self denial. Linda, after Willy's death, feels some relief. By killing himself, he fulfilled his own "prophesy" of being worth more dead than alive. Linda was able to play off the house and was finally free. She truly cared for Willy but was unable to be sad for him. Biff shows that he cared for his father as well and shared his tendency to dream big but decides that Willy had the "wrong dreams." Happy, static in his desire to please his father, even post-mortem, decides to stay in New York.

Death of a Salesman-Part 3

This post covers the third section of the play Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller, stretching approximately from page fifty to page eighty. In this section, four new minor characters are introduced. These include Howard Wagner (Willy's boss), Jenny (Charley's secretary), Stanley (a waiter at Frank's Chop House), and a call girl referred to as "Girl." Stanley and Jenny have little effect on the story.
In this section, Willy begins as bright and happy as we have ever seen him. He is excited to go to dinner with his sons and he is optimistic that his boss will give him a job closer to home. However, since Willy has such major mood swings, it is clear that his mood is easily changed. Willy also has a tendency to be overly optimistic. When his request for an in-town job is denied, he uses sentimental tactics such as telling the story of how he got into sales and reminding Howard that it was, in fact, Willy who named him. This shows Willy's value for the dramatic and his nostalgic tendencies. It also demonstrates how the world has changed since Willy's career began. Being well-liked is the number-one qualification for success in Willy's mind because that was what used to be important. However, in the midst of the Great Depression, nostalgia and personal preference (the things Willy values most) have become obsolete and Willy himself has become obsolete with them. When he is fired, Willy is devastated and fires into another series of hallucinations. In one of then, Willy praises Biff and the future he has. It is clear that Mr. Loman wishes he could return to the days when everyone in his family had such a bright future. When Willy brags to Bernard about Biff's "big deal," he seems petty and childish. Bernard, unlike Happy and Biff, fulfilled his dreams and has reached a successful point in his life. Willy, for the first time, recognizes that Biff hasn't reached his potential and seeks advice from Bernard. It is later revealed that Willy has been borrowing money from Charley. He maintains his pride and refuses a job but accepts the money. This reveals Willy as a character who will accept help but will not help himself, making him much less pitiable.
Bernard has become a successful lawyer. He is well-mannered, perceptive, and much happier than anyone else in the play. While his character is not developed much, he serves as a foil for Biff. When they were children, they were close friends. Bernard always built Biff up and encouraged him to study. Since Biff didn't listen to him, their lives took very different paths. Charley, Bernard's father, seems to be the only one in the book who cares about Willy but is also unwilling to coddle him. Though Willy leaves his office upset, Charley may be the only one with Willy's best interests at heart.
Biff and Happy go to Frank's Chop House together to meet their father. It is revealed that Biff was not received well by his old boss, Bill Oliver and that he did not get the loan for their sporting goods store. Happy, as usual, glosses over the truth and focuses on the prostitute sitting next to him. This just highlight's the differences between Biff and Happy in how they deal with problems.
The plot in this section seems to be sending Willy on a downward spiral. Everything in his life is going wrong. When he arrives at the bar, he will learn that the one thing that gave him the confidence to face the day (hope for his sons' futures) has been crushed. It is not certain how he will react but he already has suicidal tendencies so his life may be in danger. Happy and Biff don't seem to be aware of the gravity of their father's condition and Linda seems helpless to stop it. The plot of the story  seems to be out of the control of any of the characters.

Death of a Salesman- Part 2

This post covers the second half of Act I (approximately pages 25-50) of Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman. In this section, three new minor characters are introduced. These are "The Woman," (Willy's mistress from Biff's high school days), Charley (Bernard's father, the Lomans' neighbor), and Ben (Willy's older, more successful brother).
In this section, it is apparent that Willy's mental state is in rapid decline. He has several more hallucinations. The first hallucination is one revealing his affair with The Woman and that he gave her a gift of stockings. His guilt is apparent when he later scolds Linda for mending stockings. He is clearly trying to rid himself of guilt by convincing himself that he can provide adequately for his family. He also begins to mutter to himself and his hallucinations affect his everyday life. He is overtaken by guilt over his affair and regret over his life. He feels that if he had gone off with his brother Ben, he could have been much more successful.
Charley, one of the newly introduced characters, seems to be a well-meaning man. He offers Willy a job, even though it is doubtful that Willy would be an asset. He tries to be understanding about Willy's mental state.
As Willy's insanity is revealed, Linda's actions seem more and more sane. She acts as an enabler for Willy's actions but does so only for his well-being. She defends him to her boys, showing her loyalty.
Biff seems to distance himself more and more from his father. He describes his father as a fake. Presumably, this means that he recognizes how Willy lies to himself and refuses to see the truth. This shows that Biff is unwilling to lie to himself in the same way.
Happy, at this point, seems to be a static character. While Willy and Biff are fighting, he intervenes and brings up their sporting goods store idea. He still seems like his only desire is to equal himself to Biff in Willy's eyes.
This section of the book, while a bit more eventful than the first, still does not carry many significant plot events. Miller continues with characterization  and set-up for events to take place in the second act (Biff getting a loan, Willy talking to Howard). The plot seems to be building and the mystery about what happened between Biff and Willy to change Biff's attitude towards his father is becoming more significant.

Shipshape at the Wharf in Trondheim-Verlyn Klinkenborg

The style exhibited in the article, "Shipshape at the Wharf in Trondheim," is rather out of character for the author, Verlyn Klinkenborg. He uses more rhetorical devices and comes to even less of a conclusion than is typical for him. The article's tone is rather surreal and abstract, with no clear resolution or path. The article, in general, is about the author watching dock workers and experiencing a sense of fascination and pleasure at the ordering and stacking of packages. He investigates what in himself, and in human nature, causes this obsession with order.
This post is written in a narrative format. It is one, single event that the author describes. An overlying rhetorical device he uses is his description and detailing. About some things (the exact number and arrangement of workers, the clothing of the workers, and other seemingly insignificant details) he is tediously specific. About others (why he was in Trondheim, where specifically he was going, and other major parts of the story) he is incredibly vague. Klinkenborg may have described the incident in this way to emphasize what he believes is truly important in the story, over the broader picture. Like in "We Who Are Left When A Generation Passes," the first paragraph contains an alliteration ("...hull has hinged..."). That is where the similarity ends, "We Who Are Left...," contains very few rhetorical devices while "Shipshape..." contains many. In the second paragraph, a hyperbolic expression is used when he states that "Nothing could be more ordinary than forklifts loading and unloading cargo stacked on pallets." Repetition in sentence structure is used in this paragraph when describing the work of each laborer. He uses hyperbole again in the third paragraph by saying, "This driver could tweeze a woman's eyebrows with the blades of his forklift." Soon after, Klinkenborg utilizes the concept of the antithesis when he says, "I'd say it appeals to something visceral in me, but just how visceral can the desire to stack objects with a forklift really be?" This rhetorical device highlights the confusion he feels on his path to discovering what inside himself creates the reaction he describes. The fourth paragraph is primarily composed of a series of rhetorical questions, demonstrating that the author himself is not sure what he thinks. The fifth and final paragraph contains a simile, comparing the forklift to the ferry as it moves out into the water.
The impression Klinkenborg desires to make is that it is universal human nature to desire order, even in small or insignificant details. Throughout the article, he doesn't seem quite sure of this point himself. Like a majority of his articles, "Shipshape at the Wharf in Trondheim," gives readers intimate details about Klinkenborg's life and the workings of his mind. His point is persuasive to those who have experienced the phenomenon he describes. However, to those who have never experienced that pleasure in finding order, this article is abstract and somewhat senseless. In general, this article is less effective than average at convincing readers to change their opinions but exhibits interesting stylistic qualities not shown in Klinkenborg's other work.
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/07/opinion/shipshape-at-the-wharf-in-trondheim.html

Death of a Salesman-Part 1

This post covers approximately the first twenty-five pages of the play Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller. In this section, four main characters are introduced as well as one minor character. The major characters are all members of the Loman family: Willy (father and husband), Linda (mother and wife), Biff (son, 34), and Happy (son, 32).
Willy is an exceptionally unhappy, unfulfilled personality. He works as a mediocre, washed up salesman in the New England area. He tends to delude himself into thinking he is more important, more popular, or more successful than he is in reality. At points he seems to genuinely care for his family. It is possible that in a better situation, he could have been a good man but he has been worked past his prime. He is impatient and a bit short tempered. He tends to contradict himself and he has no pride or assurance in himself. He exhibits signs of possible manic depression. His situation is not being helped by his family. They play along with his delusions and allow it to continue. He experiences a daydream/hallucination about the last days of Biff's high school career, suggesting that he is nostalgic about those days.
Linda acts as the subservient wife. She seems the most sane of the family. She acts worried and caring  and she is more practical about their economic situation than her husband. She somehow seems optimistic about the future, or at least puts on a happy face for Willy, despite their financial and emotional issues.
Biff has just returned from the West where he went from job to job, doing manual labor. In high school, he played football and was his father's pride and joy. It seems that he has lost all his ambition for life and has become a reminiscent dreamer with no real prospects for success. Bernard is a friend of Biff's who lives next door. He is worried for Biff, saying that he may not pass math if he doesn't study. It is mentioned that Biff has been accepted to the University of Virginia but that if he doesn't pass math, will not be allowed to graduate high school. Biff's decision not to study may be the reason he is so unsuccessful later in life. In Willy's daydream, it is revealed that Biff has a stealing problem.
Happy, his younger brother, is strong and tall but childlike. Similarly to his father, he lies to himself about his success, of lack thereof. He desperately tries to please his father but lacks the maturity to do so. During high school, he was constantly overshadowed by his brother. He does not seem to harbor any spite though. When Biff begins to dream about going out West and starting a ranch or starting a sporting goods business, Happy plays along but he seems to lack the imagination to come up with ideas himself.
This section is mainly exposition and is not terribly plot-heavy. The characters are introduced and there is clear tension between Biff and Willy, as well as between all the other characters. Miller sets up for a lot of family drama throughout the play but little actually happens in this first section.